This Week’s News
Brandon Fire District seeks voter approval for new water tank
Back in 1878, Brandon hired an engineering firm from Pennsylvania to dig a trench, by hand, from Fern Lake to the village, at a cost of $40,000 (approximately $1.1m today).
Brandon firefighters continue their rescue training
More than forty firefighters and backcountry rescue volunteers met at the Rochester office of the U.S. Forest Service last Saturday.
Hard Tellin’: How to reinvigorate unpopular family holiday traditions
This Christmas will mark the 18th year that I have been forcing my kids to make homemade gifts for each other.
Names lost in Vermont, Part 14: Preedom and Rabtoy/Robeston
My recent research on the McGee family pulled me into the perplexing story of Angeline, wife of Lewis McGee of Chittenden, Vermont.
I worked for a crook (and lent money to another)
In the fall of 1945, I worked for a crook. I was a high-school junior that year (Middlebury High School, Class of ‘47) who was always looking to make some extra money.
Photos of the Week
Sports
Namaste! Yoga options increase in our area
Yoga is a set of ancient practices, with origins in the Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago. The word itself means “union” in Sanskrit and is related to the English word “yoke,” in the sense of “to join together.”
OV’s Brooke Kimball named Unified Basketball Coach of the Year by Southern VT League
What really matters about sports? 2025 Southern Vermont League Unified Basketball Coach of the Year Brooke Kimball of Otter Valley said, “I love how much joy it brings.”
Nesobe Golf Club is no longer a “Hidden Gem”
Neshobe Golf Club hosted the 96th New England Amateur Championship with the best golfers in New England competing over three days.
A new generation of duckies takes the podium
The last few racing seasons, and all their attendant scandals, have left the local duckie community feeling unsettled.
Nifty Thrifty sponsors swim lessons for July 4th Duckies
Every July, hundreds of rubber duckies from all over the world descend upon Brandon for the Independence Day Duckie Race on the Neshobe River.

